The Cult
by aradia1
Summary: Feeling down about her life, Phoebe falls into the clutches of a cult. At first it's great, she feels welcomed and happy and like she's wanted. But when it turns sinister, and she realizes exactly what she's gotten herself into, will she be able to escape?
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Helga said, glaring at her outfit.

"It will look good on your college applications," Phoebe told her.

"Why? I'm not going into medicine," she said. "And who the hell hires candy strippers these days?"

"_Volunteers_, Helga," Phoebe said. "We're not called candy strippers anymore."

"I suppose it does sound a bit too sexy for the hospital, doesn't it?" Helga asked grinning.

"Helga!" Phoebe said, laughing a little bit. "Look, I know it's not fun-"

"You got that right."

"- but it will look good on your applications. Hospital volunteer."

"Oh yeah, I can imagine that conversation now," Helga said. "Interviewer, so what did you do during your time as a volunteer at the hospital? Me, Oh, you know, worked in the cafeteria and handed food to people. Oh, once I went out and handed someone a menu!"

"Helga," Phoebe said, exasperation creeping in.

"That's all we'll be doing Pheeb's," Helga told her. "Or something just as boring. I could have become a waitress and have more to put on my application of what I learned and gained. _And_, I'd be getting paid for it!"

"Volunteer work always looks good on applications," Phoebe insisted.

"Yeah, well a job, looks good on my bank account," Helga countered.

"If you don't want to do this, Helga, just go home," Phoebe snapped.

"Too late, Bob would skin me alive if I backed out now," Helga told her best friend. "He thinks it will be good for me. Said he did plenty of volunteer work in his teens, blah, blah, blah. I told him, helping Noah get the animals on the ark doesn't count . . ."

Phoebe phased Helga's voice out and thought about her first afternoon ahead of her in the hospital. She was thinking of going into medicine. She looked over at Helga who was yapping away, hands flying all over the place. Phoebe smiled. Her friend was a very animated person, though Phoebe didn't see her friend ever getting a job that would make her rich, unless she made it in Hollywood or something.  
Phoebe was shorter than her best friend. Helga was already 5'9 at seventeen, and a size 4 at least. Phoebe didn't know how she did it, with all the junk she ate. Helga was often accused of being anorexic. Phoebe knew it was just because her friend had a high metabolism. She had at one point been kicked off the girls softball team after rumors of her being so went around school. It took an actual physical and psychological exam from a doctor to inform everyone that no, she _wasn't_ anorexic, she was just naturally that way. She got back on the team. And girls, especially Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, continued to hate her for it. And throw out the anorexia rumor.

Phoebe on the other hand . . . she was only 5'5 and stocky. She kept her thick black hair short, and had tried contacts, but they had irritated her eyes too much, no matter what she did, so she was stuck with glasses. She wasn't athletic, but she was smart. But smart didn't get the boys. Her and Gerald tried in middle school, but it fizzled out by high school and he moved on to date someone else, though she had heard the they had broken up. She kind of hoped that they would one day rekindle what they could have had . . . but it didn't look too likely at the moment.

She looked over at her best friend. If it weren't for Helga's home life, she'd be jealous of Helga. Helga, when she committed herself, gave Phoebe a good run for her money in the smarts department. Phoebe kind of resented her for it, but never acted so. Helga was really the only friend she had. Not that she didn't love Helga. She did! But it really didn't seem fair for Helga to be model perfect and smart.  
She sighed. She had really only talked Helga into doing this, because Helga could drive and she didn't want to do this alone.

"Here we are," she heard Helga say. Looking up she saw they were indeed at a nurses station.  
"Can I help you?" the nurse at the desk asked.

"Volunteers," Helga said.

"We're here to volunteer," Phoebe said, glaring at Helga for her shortness with the woman.

"Okay, I'll go get Mrs. Smack, she's the head nurse on at the moment," she said, picking up a phone.

Phoebe looked at Helga who was looking at her nails, looking bored. She was starting to feel a bit annoyed with her. Why had she asked Helga of all people? '_Because you don't have any other friends_,' a nasty little voice whispered in her head. Phoebe bit her lip, and looked at the floor for a moment. When she looked up she saw Helga staring at her hard. She smiled at her friend. Helga made a face and looked away. Phoebe often felt creeped out when Helga stared at her. It always felt as though she could also hear the little voice in Phoebe's head. Because it was always when these thoughts were happening that she would find Helga giving her that look.

"Ok, she's coming out now to greet you girls and show you what your going to do."

…

"What did I tell ya, Pheebs?" Helga said, after handing a person a sandwich. "There's other places we could have volunteered you know."

"Well why don't you go volunteer there, then?" Phoebe snapped.

"Hey, just because _your_ dreams and aspirations of what being a volunteer in a hospital would be like didn't come true, don't take it out on _me_," Helga said coolie.

Phoebe pouted until she realised what she was doing and stopped.

"Your right, I'm sorry," she said, sighing.

"Want a ride to the party tonight?" Helga asked, eyeing up one of the scrubs. Phoebe followed her friends gaze and smirked. For someone supposedly in love with one boy, she seemed to have no problem eyeing up, and even dating, others. She was happy for her friend about that, but also a little jealous. '_Stop it, Phoebe!_' she mentally berated herself. '_She's your best friend, your not suppose to be jealous of her!'  
_  
"No, it's okay, I was thinking of passing," she answered. She didn't feel like spending the whole night feeling like she was going to vomit due to being in the same room with Gerald and his new squeeze.

"Are you sure?" Helga asked, looking a bit worried. Phoebe nodded. "Well, the offer is there if you change your mind."

"I know," she said, smiling at the person approaching the counter.

…

Phoebe felt surprisingly tired at the end of her volunteer shift.

"You girls did well today," the head nurse told them. "I know it's not very exciting, but it does help a lot."

"No worries," Helga said smiling. Phoebe nodded.

"How are you on phones, Helga?" she asked.

"Pretty good, why?"

"Tomorrow when you come in, would you mind being on the desk?" Mrs, Smack asked. "Nothing to complicated, just taking phone calls. Charlotte went home this afternoon sick. So we'll be short someone at the desk. It gets a bit chaotic on Saturdays."

"Sure," Helga said, smiling.

Phoebe felt bile rise in her throat.

"As long as your not hung over from the party tonight," she blurted out. Helga looked at her, hurt crossing her features quickly, before giving way to nonchalance. Then she shrugged.

"So I just don't go tonight," she said breezily. "Plenty more parties in the future."

"I suppose so," she said, before turning on her heel and stalking off.

She could hear the nurse and Helga talking a moment, before hearing Helga running to catch up with her.

"What was that back there?" Helga asked, anger lacing her voice.

"Nothing," Phoebe snapped. "I'm going to catch a cab home."

"Phoebe what-"

"Leave me alone," Phoebe said, tears springing to her eyes.

"Fine, whatever," Helga said, walking ahead of her. Phoebe watched her stomp away, feeling awful. What was wrong with her lately? When she finally got outside she saw Helga talking to the cute scrub she had been eyeing up earlier. From the looks of it they were trading numbers. She was laughing at something he said, and then he laughed at what she said. Helga glanced over quickly, then looked away.

Phoebe didn't blame her.

She'd become a horrible green-eyed monster of late.

…

After coming home, having a shower and eating dinner, Phoebe felt better, but also bad about how she'd treated Helga. She tried calling her a few times, but she didn't answer her phone til after eight, and when she did she sounded happy and breathless.  
"Yeeeeeeeeeeees?" she said, before laughing.  
"Helga, it's me," Phoebe said quietly. She heard Helga shushing someone in the background, and heard laughing she could have sworn was Arnold's.  
"I know babe, what's up?" she asked.  
"I just wanted to say sorry for today," she said.  
"Shh, it's Phoebe, stop it," she heard Helga trying to whisper to the person she was with. "Hey, it's cool."

"Are you with Arnold?" Phoebe asked. She could hear talking in the background.

"What? Why would you ask that?" Helga asked, sounding a little defensive.

"I thought I heard . . . never mind" Phoebe said.

"Look, Pheeb's, apology accepted okay?" Helga said.

"Helga-"

Before Phoebe could say another word, Helga hung up. Phoebe stared at the phone in her hands.  
She sighed and dropped her phone on the floor, feeling sad. Why was Helga suddenly keeping secrets from her?


	2. Chapter 2

Phoebe wandered through school feeling sorry for herself. The weekend had been boring. She had been given the task of walking around handing menu's out to patients and then coming back for their orders to take to the kitchen. Most of the patients were too ill to want conversation and others were just grumpy, or already had visitors. She sighed. Helga it seemed, however, had had a great time getting to know some of the younger nurses and that guy in scrubs she had met and exchanged numbers with. From what she had learned his name was Logan and he was in his last year of study at the hospital. Phoebe had frowned and commented on how much older he must be. Helga had called her a wet blanket.

She stopped at her locker and looked up in time to see Gerald and a new girl kissing against his locker. So he had indeed, broken up with his girlfriend, but only to start dating another. She opened her locker and blinked back her tears. Why couldn't she stop feeling sorry for herself?

"Screw it," she said, slamming her locker shut without taking any books out. She turned and headed for the exit. As she walked out she knocked into someone, but kept on walking, ignoring their yell at her. As she walked away from the school she heard another person call out to her. She turned to see a teacher heading her way. She just looked straight ahead and took off at a jog. She didn't feel like going to school today. No one would miss her after all. Not even Helga. She'd just go and sit with some people, rather than just one person.

She got to the bus stop just as a bus was pulling in and jumped on. She paid her fare, and took a seat. She had no idea where the bus was taking her, though the streets never lost their familiarity. eventually she saw the park come into view and decided to get off there. She thanked the bus driver and exited the bus, taking a deep breath of fresh air. The bus air had smelt stale and gross.

She headed toward the entrance taking note of a couple of cute guys playing with a frisbee just inside the gate. They smiled at her and waved. She looked around her, then seeing no one smiled back but kept on walking. Eventually she found a tree by the lake to sit under and think. Eventually the tears she had been holding back fell. She had felt so out of place in the world since high school started. Phoebe had always been a friendly person. At first she had thought it was because of Helga that she couldn't make friends. She took a break from their friendship, but the opposite to what she thought would happen happened. Instead of her making friends and flourishing, Helga had. Helga had joined the softball team. Helga had become flirty with other guys. Phoebe knew that it had originally started as a way to get Arnold's attention, but when she had, Helga didn't stop.

"I'm having way too much fun to tie myself down yet!" she'd told Phoebe at the time. While Phoebe had been happy for her friend at first, eventually she joined the ranks of some of the more jealous girls. Helga still claimed she loved Arnold, though Phoebe sometimes got the feeling it was more out of habit than actual feelings, but never said anything. There was no point. Maybe she did still love Arnold. Who knew? Only Helga did, and she wasn't saying anything to her. Helga hadn't been saying much to Phoebe for a while now. It had felt like some wall had been built between them, and Phoebe just couldn't get over it anymore. She felt like she was losing her best friend.

"Hey, are you okay?" she heard someone ask. She looked up into a round face with bright blue eyes, whose thick dark brown hair was tied in a plait.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just having one of those days," she said laughing. The other girl smiled.

"Yeah, I have those days too," she told her smiling. "Anything you'd like to talk about?"

Phoebe shook her head. She didn't even know this girl. She wasn't ready to tell her her life story.

"Well, my name is Olivia," the girl told her, smiling and holding out a hand. Phoebe took it.

"Phoebe," she said.

"Nice name," a new voice chimed in. Phoebe looked up to see the two guys who had been playing frisbee when she first came in. "Hey olivia, we were gonna go grab a pizza, you want some?"

"Yep, you know what I like," she answered.

"What about you, Phoebe?" the guy asked, looking at her and smiling.

"Oh, um, it's okay," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, where's your lunch?" Olivia asked, looking around her.

"Oh, uh, I was just going to buy it. at school. where I'm not. Now," she face-palmed herself. How stupid had she been, running off without thinking of food.

"It's cool, you can share our pizza," the guy said.

"I can put some money towards-"

"Don't worry about it," the other guy told her smiling. "Our shout. You look like you could do with a break."

...

Phoebe felt better at the end of the day than she had in ages. The group were funny, and they listened to her tell her sob story, then shared their own. Phoebe loved the connection she seemed to have formed with them, especially Parker. His story was almost parrallel to hers, only it was his older brother whereas it was her best friend.

"Some people just seem to have all the luck," he said shrugging.

Yes. Indeed Helga did seem to have all the luck of late. She passed tests without trying, whereas Phoebe would spend hours studying. Helga seemed to make friends so easily, despite not being the friendliest of people. Phoebe struggled to get people to really even listen to her, let alone ask her somewhere. Helga often took her with her to parties she was invited to, but often Gerald was there. Phoebe couldn't understand how Helga did it. Arnold would always be there as well, usually with his girlfriend. The last party she had gone to with Helga, Arnold had spilt his drink on Helga. Helga turned around and snapped at him, then stormed off to a bathroom, muttering curses.

"That stupid football headed idiot!" Helga grumbled to her that night in the bathroom, while trying to rinse the beer out of her top. "Wolfgang had just asked me out and bang! He completely interupts the moment by spilling his drink down my back! Freaking embarrasing."

"Why would you want to go out with Wolfgang?" Phoebe had asked. "He used to beat us up when we were kids."

"Have you _seen_ his car?" Helga said to her. Helga had gone back out there afterwards, continuing her flirtations, and went on to date Wolfgang for two weeks before they broke up. Helga offered no explanation, and Wolfgang never said anything to his friends. Something had happened though. She had felt hurt when Helga wouldn't tell her. Helga had just gotten defensive.

In fact, as time went on, Helga got more and more secretive, seeming to cut Phoebe out of chunks of her life. She also spent more and more time with her fellow softball teammates. Phoebe didn't fit into that circle at all. In a way, it was like losing Gerald all over again, only worse, because Helga had always been there for her. And suddenly she wasn't all the time. And she didn't always need Phoebe . . .

Phoebe had become Helga's shadow without even realizing it . . .

...

"Hey Pheeb's," Helga said, sitting down next to her. She held out a lolipop to Phoebe. Phoebe took it with a thanks.

"Gerald's available," she said, taking her lollipop out and studying it. "This tastes weird. Does this taste weird to you?"

She offered her lollipop to Phoebe to taste. Phoebe took a taste. It did taste a bit weird.

"Yeah, what's it supposed to be?" she asked. Helga shrugged.

"So, Lila's having a party this weekend, wanna go?" she asked casually.

"I wasn't invited," Phoebe said. Helga laughed.

"Neither was I," she said. "A few people weren't. It's just become an open house party, courtesy of her loving best friend, Rhonda."

"Are you serious?" Phoebe asked. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was Parker texting her.

"Ohhhhhhhh, who's Parker?" Helga asked, smirking. "And where did you meet him?"

"He's just a guy I met at the park," Phoebe told her, blushing and putting her phone away.

"So you gonna go out with him on Saturday?" Helga asked.

"I dont know . . ."

"Go for it," Helga said.

"But the party . . . "

Helga waved her hand in the air. "There'll be others. Go out with this boy, have fun, and make sure he pays! Don't fall for that feminisim crap. It's a man's way to get out of paying."

Phoebe laughed. "If your sure . . ."

"Positive, Pheeb's," Helga told her. "I want you to be happy."


End file.
